“Whenever he gets out, it feels very bad to get out”: Former Indian star on Rishabh Pant

India have selected Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson as wicketkeeper-batsmen in their 15-member squad for the upcoming Men’s T20 World Cup to be held in West Indies and USA from June 1. While this is the first time Samson has been selected in the Indian squad for the senior men’s World Cup, Pant is returning to the national team for the first time since recovering from injuries sustained in a fatal car accident in December 2022. In IPL 2024, Samson has scored 385 runs in nine innings. On the other hand, Pant has scored 398 runs in 11 innings at a strike rate of 159. While Samson has hit 36 ​​fours as compared to 31 hit by Pant, the latter has hit 24 sixes. East up to 17 max.

Former India wicketkeeper-batsman Ajay Ratra believes Pant will be his first choice over Samson, citing good returns when he returns to competitive cricket.

“I think Rishabh will be preferred as the first-choice wicketkeeper-batsman for India in the T20 World Cup. Rishabh has been performing really well since his return from injury. Also, he is a left-handed batsman. Having plenty of experience in the middle order and playing international cricket in all formats is also beneficial,” he said in an exclusive interview with IANS.

In IPL 2024, according to data provided by Cricket-21, Samson’s strike rate of 138 in the first ten balls is better than the 119 recorded by Pant in the same phase. Additionally, Samson’s strike-rate of 159 in overs 7-15 is higher than Pant’s strike-rate of 139 in that phase.

But Pant has the edge over Samson in overs 16-20 – his strike rate of 229 is higher than the 206 recorded by Samson. There were doubts over Pant managing his wicketkeeping workload, especially after undergoing right ligament reconstruction surgery.

But so far, he has impressed the visitors with his pace behind the stumps – taking 11 catches and making three stumpings. Pant has shown glimpses of his old shots with the bat, which is a heart-touching sight for cricket fans.

“Rishabh’s keeping style is his own creation, which does not fall under the copybook style of wicketkeeping. So far, he has been quite successful at it – he has taken some very good catches in IPL 2024, especially his leg-side catches and a -Grabs it by hand.

“Since recovering from that tragedy and the injuries he has made really good progress with his batting, especially when he hasn’t had any game time. Whenever he gets out, the way he gets out looks very bad. But then Rishabh’s strength is to stick to his style of shots – like the one-handed sixes and strokes which he plays to fine leg despite losing his balance at times,” said Ratra.

Ratra believes that Samson’s current form and strike rate in IPL 2024 was enough to give him preference over KL Rahul, who was in India’s squad for the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia. “I feel a little bad for Rahul, because I think if the pitches had become a little difficult and slow to bat on, Rahul would have been helpful. As I have seen in him, whenever the team is in a pressure situation, Whatever the format, Rahul has performed.

“If the pitches are conducive to stroke play, then it is good. But if the pitches give some help to the bowlers, then Rahul would have been an ideal batsman for the Indian team. Also, it was a difficult task for the selectors. Rahul Or to choose between Sanju, but I believe that whenever the opportunity comes in the World Cup, Sanju will grab the opportunity with both hands.”

Ratra, who played six Tests and 12 ODIs for India, said it was very unfortunate that Rinku Singh was left out of the 15-man squad, citing his exceptional performances as a finisher while he played at the international level. Had recorded a strike-rate of 176.23 in the format. Debut last year. However, Rinku is one of the four reserve players traveling to India for the mega event, where they will face Ireland in the opening match in New York on June 5.

“I feel very bad about Rinku Singh being left out of the main team. He has been performing really well for the last one year. He is a busy player at the crease, is consistent in his performances and shows the ability to score runs. ” Against spinners and fast bowlers.

“I understand he didn’t get many innings to bat in IPL 2024, but it’s very unfortunate that he missed it. Keep in mind, he’s a very good fielder and there won’t be a rule of thumb for an impact player in the T20 World Cup – which “This means everyone in the playing XI will have to shoulder the fielding responsibility, as such, there is no option for teams to replace a less impactful fielder with a better fielder,” he said.

Ratra concluded by observing that India have spin-bowling options in abundance, including Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Yuzvendra Chahal. “Drop-in pitches are generally slow, but let’s see what kind of matches it will produce – 200 games or 170-ish scoring games. There is no doubt that India took a spin-heavy team to the World Cup Is.”

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